Posted
by
CmdrTaco
on Monday October 15, 2001 @07:31AM
from the no-i-do-not-look-like-him dept.

Wil Wheaton [IMDB] is our latest interview victim. Best known here as Wesley Crusher on TNG, Wil has a history doing movies both good (Stand by Me) and, uh, otherwise (see his FAQ). His movie
"The Good Things" just won the grand prize at the 27th Festival of American Cinema at Deuville. His currrent project is "Jane White Is Sick & Twisted". Post your questions for him here, one per post, and we'll forward a few of the highest rated ones to Wil.

When you were on the set of TNG did you ever find yourself running into the automatic doors when there was no one there to open them for you? How about at your house or other places? Was this a problem for any of the other cast members? Did you ever find yourself going to grocery stores and running in and out of the doors just to make you feel better?

The interview was really and very funny at that, I strongly suggest checking it out. I don't understand why Wil is getting so much attention now, but I can't say I don't welcome it. He really seems to be a much funnier person than the Next Generation series let him be. His responses are funny, and more importantly, informed about the net culture. My favorite is his response about being like a camwhore without the wishlist.

Seriously, how much time do you spend reading techie sites like slashdot, and keeping up with the issues? I see lots of nice links and banners on your webpage that seem to advocate. How would you "rate your geekness"? Is setting up your own server really fun for you, or just another way to score babes?:-)

Wil,
I loved the TNG Marathon played on TNN..the first time I ever watched the network for more than 15 seconds. The character segments in between were great too, but why on Earth did they make all of you run on that stupid treadmill? It was so distracting...and watching Michael Dorn get out of breathe wasn't exactly funny.

As one of the ultra-rare individuals who actually really enjoyed your character, I have had some questions over the years.

Questions like:

Did you ever get to see Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troy) nude?

Was there any behind the scenes booty-calls between cast members that you are comfortable releasing?

How difficult is it for a new actor to get a recurring role on a Star Trek series 'generally'?

More importantly to me..

Would you ever do a movie with Bruce Campbell? If so, have you let him and his people know?

And finally,

I know you were happy to leave the show, and I am glad you retained your integrity and ability to do what you wanted. However, I have often wondered, did you like the WAY you were written off the show?

We all can look up your various roles on the web [imdb.com]. What kind of roles people attempt to cast you for? Are there any movies that you especially would like to have been in, or possibly in the future?

I liked your brief appearance in the Sprite commercial:) My question is, have you thought about sticking with the Star Trek franchise? With Enterprise, the franchise is taking a new direction, in which the characters are more human and not ultra-competent Utopians. Have you considered trying for a part, recurring or otherwise?

Jason Alexander once said in an interview that every single episode he did as George on Seinfeld made it harder and harder for him to be marketable in showbiz as any other sort of character. Given that most people know you as Welsey Crusher, do you ever worry about it? If that's a problem, how does an actor break out of it?

How does it feel to have wilwheaton.net slashdotted? But seriously, would you ever, ever, ever do a Star Trek anything again, even if its just 10 seconds to get shot to make sure you'll never appear again? Not sure how you'd get written back in though.

It always fascinates me, the hatred male trekkies have towards Wil Wheatons character. Now I think I understand why: I watched TNG during my early teens and I always envied his character, I would have killed to be in his characters situation! And I think thats where all this hatred comes from. Instead of looking like a dweeb, they express distaste for him. Also he basically portrayed most of our lives: An above average male teenager who was never appreciated for his abilites by his role models (Especially Picard). This kind of reminds me a bit of the whole Jar Jar thing...

If you're not man enough to admit your envy, then please don't try to satisfy your ego by expressing hate.

To Wes: Great job on TNG....wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

On your homepage you mention that you once worked for NewTek during their development or initial release of the Video Toaster. I've always been curious to know how you got the job there and what you exactly did for them? Did you ever own an Amiga prior to working at NewTek?

I'm curious about the Star Trek fan circuit - convention appearances and all. Do you actually make some decent money on them or is it more of a favor to the fans? Does Paramount ever pressure the actors to attend events to promote the franchise? And is there a camaraderie between actors from different series, people who otherwise haven't worked with each other?

You have made comments to the effect of poo-poo'ing celebrity opinions about issues in general. Yet in your blogs, you spend a lot of time discussing politics, and you make no bones about which side of the isle you favor. As someone in the public spotlight - and especially as someone in the geek spotlight (being a celeb that has your own self-coded web site) - do you consider it a duty of sorts to be an activist? Does being a celeb bring any more responsibility over the common, first-amendment-empowered citizen in voicing your opinion? Also, do you feel that you have qualities above and beyond other Hollywood celebrities that makes it important that you share your feelings?

I've always wanted to know whether or not Wil was even asked to do an episode of Star Trek Voyager. That series could have used a good episode about the Traveler and Wesley. I would think the idea could have popped up in some writers' heads.

You've played one of the most despised characters in the history of science fiction; do you have any advice for Jar Jar as to how he should handle the rancor of obnoxious fans?

BTW, congrats on moving beyond Wesley and having what looks like an interesting career. In the end, you've done better than some other cast members of ST:TNG! At least you're not narrating alien autopsy videos...;)

I remember hearing how back in the day he had a Mac Plus which had blown its analog board, so he couldn't get online. (As if there was much time for that while doing the weekly TV series grind.) Ah, the good old Mac analog board.

It wasn't the power supply that blew, like most people said, it was actually part of the video circuitry. And usually it was a 25 volt non-polarized electrolytic capacitor that went, in a spew of orange smoke. When it happened to mine, I took it to the local Mac fixit guy, and he replaced it with a 35 or 50 or so volt Mylar non-electrolytic capacitor. I guess Apple didn't learn its lesson, because AirPort base stations have had a problem with marginally rated capacitors, too.

Many people have compared Wesley Crusher to Adric on the Dr. Who. In both cases, the character was reviled because of the way the writers handled him. What are your thoughts on this? How would you recommend an actor handle this sort of situation in the future?

As a lifelong geekess whose first crush was on Wesley Crusher, here's a question I'd love answered by Wil Wheaton, as well as the general male slashdot population. Which would Wesley Crusher, in character, prefer? An attractive, yet slightly braindead, clothes/hair/nails oriented girl, or her equally attractive, intelligent geekess identical twin sister? Someone who can't carry on a conversation unless it involves who was seen where, with whom, and what each was wearing, or somone who can argue the pros and cons of which programming language suits a certain task best? What about you as a person?

As someone who's married, I'm answering becuase I thought you might appreciate the perspective of someone who is not married to a geek.

My wife is fantastic and I wouldn't trade her for any other human being in the world. But to say that she's not a geek is an understatement. I look, with fond admiration at two friends of mine who are married to geeks. They have that in common, and they both can get excited about wiring their houses, or the new software that they've written or installed. Or the bug that they just squished.

My wife just doesn't get it. She doesn't get why I spend so much time in front of the computer. She doesn't get how working with computer software really gets me pumped up, and gives me feelings of accomplishment. She just doesn't get it, and it causes stress in our marriage. Fortunately, we're able to work it out.

Geek girls are starting to turn up more and more... however they're still exceedingly rare. The ability to share goals together and get excited over the same things will be much more important over the long run than the physical attractiveness of your spouse, which will inevitably decline. If you are a geek girl, you're sitting on a real gold mine. You'll be able to share the same sort of desires and get excited about the same thing as a *HUGE* number of men in the world. It's rare.

Any advise for what is essentially the same role as your TNG character in the new "Enterprise" series? You know, the begal puppy.

Should he apply to starfleet academy?
Should he accept a field commision as an ensign?
Should he take a postion on the bridge?
Or perhaps he should just be careful playing with alien puppys on planets with unknown laws?

This very funny interview [bbspot.com] with Wil Wheaton was submitted last week, but was promptly rejected. And suddenly you've got your very own idea to interview him. I'm so very impressed by your originality.

So for the uninformed, CmdrTaco is a dick. And the above interview is inclined to be far more informative and funny than anything that will appear here. Go read it.

I noticed a post of yours a few weeks ago on one of the star trek: enterprise stories and was sorta surprised. I'd never thought I'd see a post by a celebrity on slashdot, or at least a celebrity that identified themself. I didn't think it was real, until I went to your webpage and saw that you were a fellow geek. I read quite a bit of your site and found a lot of it interesting. I'd have to say, you have great taste in music.

My question to you is:

How often have you gotten first post?

Are you the gloating first poster, or just the simple "first post, 'nuff said" kinda first poster?

Kirk Russell, on the commentary to the Big Trouble in Little Chinia DVD, talks about how his trip down the elevator on the way to confront "the ultimate evil spirit" has generated more comments then any other. Fans are always quoting back lines from that scene, particularly in elevators.

Here is the question. Are there particlar lines from one of your roles that fans repeat back to you? Which role do people most often identify you with when they see you in the real world? If you could change this defining moment to an alternate scene or line, what would it be and why?

First I'd like to say that I really liked your character and I was upset when he was written out of the show.

A lot of questions have focused on either your level of geekiness or how many of your Trek co-actors you got to see nude. I have a bit more concrete question, which I think might tell us a lot more about you:

I took my copy of Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) to a friend's house this weekend, and we all remarked at how this story of the consequences of unthinking violence has tremendous bearing on recent world events.

I also remember hearing Joseph Campbell in one of his many lectures state that the artist has a responsibility to set the moral tone for the culture.

I have seen you in a number of your roles (the last being The Invisible Man if I am not mistaken), and while your parts have great entertainment value, they do not IMHO have much to say about fundamental aspects of the human condition.

Is this an avenue that you might want to explore in your career, even at the cost of financial liquidity?

Yes, I do. Eventually, this site will have a whole section devoted to aspiring actors. My immediate advice is: study, study, study. Read the classic plays and see the great movies. And for the love of Bob, study!And read Backstage. Get yourself into some sort of acting program or workshop. Just avoid anything that tells you they'll give you a free book by L.Ron Hubbard. It's a scheme to recruit you into Scientology [xenu.net].

What kind of benefits do you find resulting from having been a Star Trek actor?

I assume you've learned to handle the celebrity-side of "Ohhh - he was on Star Trek" by now but how does it affect you in your day-to-day life, particularly when you've been involved in the high-tech industry?

Does it ever get to be annoying when folks get fixated on your former role? Do you ever take advantage of it and get invited to events you wouldn't be otherwise? How about bring it up when dealing with phone-support ("If I can fix a dilithium interociter & phase through space I can be trusted with the ntp server address!".) How about vendors, try and get new gear out of shops: "But I'm Wil Wheaton, y'know, Wesley from Star Trek - it'd be great PR for you if I said I bought my Whizbang2000 at your store so howzabout it half-off and with that sweet wireless card thown in?"

Or is it you just make headlines when you slap a Beverly Hills cop ("Nooo mooore Beverly!...")

Well, ok, I knew that there would be a bunch of ST:TNG-related questions on here because, well, we're a bunch of geeks. So here's something kind of related to Trek, but more along the lines of show biz...

What sort of problems have you had, if any, with typecasting, and what did you do to break those? I would imagine you could get pidgeonholed into the "brainy adolescent" or "anything sci-fi" parts and productions, especially with the mythical proportions that Trek can get to within the industry (positive and negative).

Most popcorn movies these days have big holes in their script, be it plot-wise or technology-wise.

While it sometimes works to abandon logic or science (Armageddon comes to mind), this trend seems to backfire more and more often (Godzilla comes to mind, a movie that even Roger Ebert dissed for its science goofs).

How come that the way technology or science is depicted on screen (computers, technology, sci-fi) hardly ever gets proofread in Hollywood scripts? You seem to be a tech-nerd - do you ever correct something in a script? (If you know a script-writer who needs a proofreader, give him my e-mail address:-)

2nd question: Do you think that having been a member of the Trek franchise was good or bad for your career? I'm a big trek fan, yet it often amuses me how Trek actors can consider themselves superstars in the Trek world, but nobodies outside.

I often feel sorry for the dead-end careers that it meant for Nichelle Nichols or DeForest Kelley. I often wonder when I will finally see the TNG actors in bigger roles. (Don't tell me that Brent Spiner's recent work was a stellar career. Why doesn't he get better roles? Or Marina Sirtis? Or almost any other Trek actor?)

You're a well-known, established actor; but I guess you won't take this as an insult if I don't call you a superstar. So you're not yet in the position to choose all your projects and be granted every wish you have about a script.

So, I always wondered how actors choose their scripts - what is your job like when you're not acting?

What kind of scripts do you get offered? What silly (or not silly) scripts did you turn down? Can you talk about roles or projects that you were chosen for and then it didn't work out?

While waiting through the slashdotting, I noticed Free Dmitry and and anti-DMCA links on your google-cached web site.

I don't think we're going to get a better chance to find out what happens to both than by asking a guy who not only time travelled regularly, but near the end of TNG was able to manipulate time itself.

So, my questions -- is Dmitry finally free for real in the future, and if so, how did it happen? And don't say "holodeck" or "transporter" because that's cheap.

Next -- is legislation in the future as bad as it is now? I mean, if you circumvent a Klingon holo-copy control mechanism, would you be thrown in a detention cell on Kronos and be force fed Gahk (or whatever the hell those worm things are called) without starbail or startrial for a few staryears?

As an amateur geek, does being interviewed by a rabid geek site like Slashdot -- a site that normally interviews people who rewrite kernel modules in
brainf*ck [catseye.mb.ca] for fun -- scare you? Or is being a gen-u-wine celebrity and the actor formerly known as "the boy" insulation against such terror?

And (sorry if this is in your FAQ but since your server is melting so I can't check) are there actors in Hollywood that are as geeky / more geeky than you that one would never suspect? Or are there actors who portray geeks that are confused by the number of switches on a hair-drier? In other words who do you talk code with and who do you poke fun at?

Years ago, I heard some stories that said you were outspokenly antigay. The story went that you held gays in contempt for religious reasons, resented speculation about your own sexual interests, and endured friction with two allegedly gay actors on the ST:TNG set -- Brent Edwards and Michael Dorn. Note: I never saw substantiation for rumors about your attitude, religion, or the sexual orientation of any cast member. (I'm frankly not enough of a Trek fan to care.:) )

Yet I see here [rumpus.org] that you said the following regarding homosexuals: "I'm sorry that I don't play ball with your team...but I always cheer for you when I'm in the stands."

Could you clarify your feelings about homosexuality, past and present? Many thanks,

I certainly regret watching some of those episodes, particulary that cloying one with the "traveler" I really wanted to hurl big chunks when I saw that bit and heard whatever the scarring dialogue was concerning Weaselly Crusher being the next leap in the evolutionary chain. Cripes!

Blame Roddenbury, sure, but it seems every good bit of big and little screen version of Sci Fi has something to make the thinking viewer consider "hey, that character really sucks and is so beyond authentic or plausible it must be a product or marketroids" Once again it was a case of Hollywood just not understanding what a real geek or hacker is.

Oh, and apologies to those who actually liked Weaselly Crusher and episodes where he linked his Archer-kit crystal radio into the main engineering computer and got 15% more power out of the warp drives. I really mean it, to all both of you.

Sheesh, ask a serious and on-topic question (How can a question about Wil Wheaton under "Ask Wil Wheaton Anything" be considered offtopic?) and get modded down as an offtopic troll...

I suppose I would have been modded up if I had asked something vague and unimportant (and Star Trek related) like "After the recent terrorist attacks on the US and the US military response, do you believe that the idealistic peace portrayed in the Star Trek future is more likely or less likely to be in our future?"

do you remember a couple of years back at a time of filming some movie or another, some people happened upon it and you. Some of them asked for an autograph, and you arrogantly handed a dollar (unsigned in case you forgot) to one of them and said, "Here! That is what you really wanted".

So... do you want your dollar back? I am curious if you have had an attitude adjustment yet, if not the dollar could be the start of a downpayment on one

I remember back when TNG first came out, Cheerios ran a promotion on the back of the cereal box that let you enter a drawing to be a guest star on the show. At the time I was 8 years old, and winning that contest was pretty much the goal of my life. Since losing the contest, my dreams have been shattered and I shake uncontrollably whenever I see a Cheerios box.

My question: Do you remember who won the contest? Was he/she cool? Did he/she actually make it into an episode?

Gdarn Moderators on crack, how is this OffTopic? Krelboyne, Ive got karma to burn - Ill re-post for you.